
Author 



Title 



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TENNESSEE. 



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The Land Where God Has Set His Seal of Love and 
Nature's Garden Home is Built. 



A State of Wondrous Resources, Matchless Scenery, 
Ideal Climate and Happy Homes. 



EVERY CEOP REPORTED IN THE NATIONAL 
CENSUS IS GROWN IN TENNESSEE. 



The Finest Stock Growing Section of the Whole 
of the American Union. 



THE VOLUNTEER STATE IS THE CENTER OF EDUCATION IN THE SOUTH, 



FACTS FOR HOME SEEKERS. 



NASHVILLE, TENN. 

JAS. J. AMBROSE, PRINTER AND STATIONER 

1897. 




PRRFAGR. 



To those iu other states and other climates who, for reasons of 
ill health, severe weather, poor soil or otherwise unsatisfactory 
location, are contemplating a change of residence this little book is 
adressed, in the hope that it may be of interest and value in guid- 
ing them to the ideal home state of the Union. 

Its publisher is sending it out in the strong belief that Tennessee 
has inducements to offer to the home seeker such as he can find no- 
where else in this great county. The climate of Tennessee is salu- 
brious and delightful ; her soil is rich and deep ; her water and rail- 
way facilities superb ; her agricultural interests are magnificent ; 
her fruit yield is abundantly profitable ; her live stock industry is 
greater than that of any other southern state ; her mineral resources 
are absolutely unlimited; her forestry wealth is nowhere surpassed; 
her beauty of scenery is wonderful in its magnificence ; her educa- 
tional development is the best in the south, and her people are the 
best on earth, who are ever ready with a hearty welcome for the 
worthy stranger who comes to build a home among them. In ad- 
dition to these splendid advantages with which nature has endowed 
her, land in Tennessee is cheap as well as productive, while taxes 
are low in proportion. 

These things should and do make Tennessee the most desirable 
state in the nation for those in search of a home where labor may 
find its proper reward, and health and happiness are to be had for 
the asking, and any one wishing to leave the extreme cold of the 
north, the blistering heat of the south, the death dealing cyclone of 
the drouth ridden west, or the worn and crowded east will find here 
that perfect location for which they seek, and if the}' will communi- 
cate their wants to the undersigned be will find great pleasure in 
answering all letters of inquiry and in furnishing such information 
as may be desired. v>v»> 

JWESSARY, 

^Commissioner of Agriculture, 

Nashville, Teun. 



'-J -ji 7 -y/ ' 



CIVIL DIVISIONS. 
X 

Tennessee is divided into three grand civil or political divisions, known 
as Bast Tennessee, Middle Tennessee and West Tennessee. 

1. East Tennessee. This comprises all the territory from the North 
Carolina line to about the center of the Cumberland Tableland, containing 
13,112 square miles, with an average elevation above the sea of 1,000 feet. 
East Tennessee is noted for its fine water powers, mineral waters, marble, 
iron ores, zinc, copper, lead, coal, gold and silver, valuable hard woods, 
high mountains and fertile valley lands, the most productive to be found, 
and is especially celebrated for the grandeur and beauty of its scenery. 
The counties lying in East Tennessee are : Anderson, Bledsoe, Blount, 
Bradley, Campbell, Carter, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Green, Hamblen, 
Hamilton, Hancock, Hawkins, James, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Eoudon, 
Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Polk, Rhea, Roane, Scott, Se- 
quatchie, Sevier, Sullivan, Union, Unicoi and Washington, in all, thirty- 
four counties. 

2. Middle Tennessee. This division extends from the dividing line on 
the Cumberland Tableland to Tennessee River, embracing in its area 
18,126 square miles, in what is known as the g-reat Central Basin, or blue- 
grass region of Tennessee, where are to be found some of the grandest 
stock farms in the world. It is the home of the Short-horn and the Jersey, 
as well as of the fleet-footed racers and trotters, while sheep and hogs, 
mules and asses, are grown here to perfection, and with great profit. Some 
of the finest farming lands to be found on earth are here in this Central 
Basin, where bountiful and never failing crops are the unbroken rule. 
Counties in Middle Tennessee are : Bedford, Cannon, Cheatham, Clay, 
Coffee, Cumberland, Davidson, DeKalb, Dickson, Fentress, Franklin, 
Giles, Grundy, Humphreys, Hickman, Houston, Jackson, Eawrence, Lewis, 
Lincoln, Macon, Marshall, Maury, Montgomery, Moore, Overton, Perry, 
Pickett, Putnam, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Stewart, Sumner, Trous- 
dale, Van Buren, Warren, Wayne, White, Williamson and Wilson, making 
forty-one counties in all. 

3. West Tennessee. This division extends from the Tennessee River 
westward to the Mississippi, containing 10,512 square miles, exclusive of 
surface permanently covered by water. In this grand division of the 
State is grown some of the finest cotton produced in the world, as well as 
nearly all the regular field crops and small fruits. The major portion of 
West Tennessee is level and very fertile, but in some sections the surface 
is broken and irreg-ular, though even here the soil is generally productive 
and fruits grow in abundance. It is here that we find the alluvial Missis- 
sippi bottoms, where the soil is as rich and deep as the famous Valley of 
the Nile. The West Tennessee counties are : Benton, Carroll, Chester, 
Crockett, Decatur, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, 
Henderson, Henry, Lake, Lauderdale, Madison, McNairy, Obion, Shelby, 
Tipton, and Weakley, twenty-one. 



4 TENNESSEE— FACTS FOR HOME SEEKERS 

TENNESSEE'S CLIMATE. 

Tennessee lies between 35 degrees and 36 degrees 30 minutes north 
latitude and 81 degrees 37 minutes and 90 degrees 28 minutes west longi- 
tude from Greenwich. The climate of Tennessee combines humidity and 
sunshine, cold and warmth, in just such proportions as to produce the 
highest degree of perfection in the greatest number of crops. This state- 
ment may be easily verified by consulting the census returns, in which it 
will appear that every crop grown in the United States may be, and ac- 
tually is, grown in the State of Tennessee. This cannot be said of any 
other State. The truth is, the productions of both the Northern and South- 
ern States meet and overlap in Tennessee. It is the climatic happy 
medium of the nation. There is just cold enough during the winter 
months to invigorate the physical system, ameliorate the soil and destroy 
the germs of disease. There is just sufficient heat in the summer months 
to produce rapid growth of vegetation and heavy yield in crops. Uncom- 
fortable heat in summer is very rare and never long continued, and the 
same may be said of the cold of winter. There are but few days during 
the year in which the laboring man is prevented, either by excessive heat 
or cold, from performing comfortably outdoor work. Statistics show the 
climate of Tennessee to be altogether the most healthful of all the states 
of the Union. Excepting a few small, insignificant strips of lowland, such 
a thing as a malarious district is unknown in Tennessee. 

There is a remarkable diversity of climate in Tennessee, occasioned by 
its wonderful topographical features. There is a difference in elevation, 
when we compare the high mountains of East Tennessee with the alluvial 
plains of the Mississippi River, of over 6,000 feet. Scientists have agreed 
to consider, so far as tempature is concerned, every 333 feet in height as 
equivalent to one degree of latitude. Applying this rule here it will be 
seen that going from the Mississippi River to the highest points in the 
Eastern portion of the State we pass through eighteen degrees of latitude. 
In effect it will be as though the State were stretched along the Atlantic 
Ocean from North Carolina to the coast of Labrador, thus actually giving 
to the elevated regions of Tennessee a part of the flora of Canada, among 
which are the balsoms and firs. The climate is further modified by the 
numerous water courses, the swelling hills in the valleys, the trend of the 
mountain ranges, and the intervenient coves, all these having the effect 
of giving cool breezes to the lowlands in summer and warm breezes to the 
highlands in winter. 

The average temperature of the year, along an east and west line run- 
ning through the center of the State, is about 57 degrees in East Tennes- 
see, 58 degrees in Middle Tennessee, and 59 degrees in West Tennessee. 
Along the southern boundaries of the State the temperature is about one 
degree higher than it is on the corresponding parts of the middle paralel, 
while on the northern boundary it is about one degree lower. We have a 
variation in going from the Mississippi bottoms to the valley of East Ten- 
nessee of 3 degrees ; in going from the southern to the northern border of 
the State of 2 degrees. This mean annual temperature is the same as 
that of the northern part of Spain, the southern part of France, northern 



TENNESSEE— FACTS FOR HOME SEEKERS. 5 

Italy, Greece, Smyrna, and the Japan Islands. Though the isothermals 
are the same, the range of the thermometer is much greater in Tennessee, 
the advantages of which may readily be seen. The annual rainfall of the 
State is about 53 inches, which is always a satisfactory guarantee of 
bountiful crops, while such things as drouths and cyclones and ruinous 
freezes are known to our people only by reputation. The period between 
killing frosts in Tennessee — which is the measure of the growing season, 
as proven by twenty-two years of careful and accurate observation, varies 
from 162 to 228 days, giving an average of 189 days, which may be con- 
sidered the length of time in which tender vegetation may grow in the 
northern part of the State. In the southern part the average would be 
from ten to twelve days longer. 

The Southern States, as appears from the census returns, are much 
more favorable to longevity than the states north. Among all the states, 
Tennessee stands in the front rank as to the salubrity of its climate, there 
being fewer diseases arising from any immediate unhealthful surround- 
ings than in any other state. 

AREA OF THE STATE. 

The State of Tennessee contains 42,050 square miles, including 300 
square miles of water. From east to west it is 432 miles, and from north 
to south 109 miles, taking the greatest length and width. A diagonal 
line drawn from the northeast corner of Johnson County to the southwest 
corner of Shelby would be about 500 miles long. Tennessee in its boundary 
touches eight states, a greater number than is touched by any other state 
in the Union, except Missouri, and within the boundary of those eight 
states, on these 42,050 square miles, is grown a greater variety of crops 
with a handsomer yield than is shown anywhere else between the shores of 
the Atlantic and the Pacific. 

TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES. 

Tennessee has about 3,000 miles of railway, giving direct transporta- 
tion to seventy-four out of the ninety-six counties of the State. This State 
has more miles of navigable streams to the square mile than any other 
state. The Tennessee River crosses the State twice. The Cumberland 
River, rising in eastern Kentucky, sweeps in a semi-circle through the 
fairest portion of the State, giving to it 304 miles of navigable water, and 
the Mississippi washes its entire western limit. Many of the tributaries 
of these principal affluents are navigable. It is estimated that altogether 
Tennessee has over 1,200 miles of navigable water. 

OUR WATERS. 

Tennessee is justly celebrated for her wonderful health-giving mineral 
waters. All over the State there are noted springs and health resorts, and 
almost every famous mineral water known to man is to be found here in 
some section of the state. Besides these, the hills and coves of Tennessee 
are lavish in their gift of pure fountains of free-stone, as fine as there is 
on earth. 



b TENNESSEE— FACTS FOR HOME SEEKERS. 

EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES. 

Tennessee is certainly entitled to note for its educational advantages, 
for no state can surpass us in this respect, and no other Southern State 
compares with us. We have the best public school system of any state in 
the Union. Our schools are supported by taxation, affording to the poor 
man's children the same opportunities to secure a good, practical educa- 
tion as the rich man's children have. The State University at Knoxville 
is a magnificent institution of learning, and there are scores of splendid 
colleges, universities and private schools all over Tennessee, embracing 
in their membership students from every state in the Union. 

TENNESSEE'S POPULATION. 

The total population of Tennessee in 1890 was 1,767,518, of which 1,332,- 
971 were white, 434.300 colored, and 247 Chinese, Japanese and Indians. 
The increase of population from 1880 to 1890 was 225,289, of which 194,140 
were white and 31,149 were colored. The percentage of increase with the 
whites was 17.05 ; with the colored 7.73 ; which shows that the white popu- 
lation during that decade increased more than twice as rapidly as the 
colored. Tennessee has lost appreciably in the number of its colored 
population during the last decade. Comparing the three grand divisions 
of the State in regard to the composition of their population, it will be 
found that East Tennessee has about 12, Middle Tennessee about 20, and 
West Tennessee about 29 per cent, colored. The foreign element of Ten- 
nessee's population amounts to a little over 1 per cent. Its colored element 
is composed of humble, peaceable and inoffensive negroes laboring for 
the necessities of life. The white people here are mostly all of pure 
Anglo-Saxon and Scotch-Irish origin, sprung from English and Scotch 
ancestry, who came over to Virginia and North Carolina in the time of 
Charles II and Oliver Cromwell, and subsequently after the battle of 
Culloden, in 1745. They are hardy, thrifty, honest, companionable folks, 
with whom the stranger must find it a pleasure to live. As an indication 
of their chief pursuit, 83 per cent, of these are a rural population, and only 
17 per cent, urban. 

MINERAL RESOURCES. 

Tennessee's mineral resources are a wonderful feature of this great 
State. By far the most important of these are the coal and iron deposits, 
which appear to be inexhaustible. So lavish has nature been in provid- 
ing these two minerals that in many localities all the requisites for a 
furnace are to be found within a few rods of one another. Iron ores, coal 
and limestone are often placed in juxtaposition, so that material for mak- 
ing pig iron may be assembled at the smallest possible cost. Besides this, 
there are forests covering thousands of square miles in the iron regions, 
and the right to use the timber may be purchased for an astonishingly 
small sum. For this reason charcoal iron is actually made in Tennessee 
for less than $8 per ton. The great mining regions are not confined to 
any part of the State, but occur in all three of its grand divisions. Under- 



TENNESSEE— FACTS FOR HOME SEEKERS. 7 

ground supplies in Tennessee are: Iron ore, such as the Magnetic Brown, 
Limonite and Red Heinatile ; Clinton ores ; Marble, the best in the world 
and inexhaustible in quantity ; copper, zinc, lead, gold, silver, oil, coal of 
most magnificent quality and quantity ; limestone, sandstone, and phos- 
phate, all of which may be worked with handsome profit. 

CROPS OF THE STATE. 

The productions of Tennessee are as varied as its climate. Wheat and 
corn grow and mature as well here as they do in the great lake states. 
Oats, rye, barley, buckwheat, peanuts, cotton, tobacco, potatoes (both 
sweet and Irish), broom corn, sorghum, rice, hemp, flax, hops, and all the 
chief hay and forage grasses grow and mature in profitable abundance. 
In addition to these may be mentioned berries of all kinds, peas, beans, 
onions, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, parsnips, turnips, radishes, salsify, celery, 
cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, melons, beets, okra, egg plant, asparagus, 
and many others. Field crops are made of many of these vegetables, es- 
pecially of tomatoes, melons, strawberries, cabbage, egg- plant, turnips, 
asparagus, Irish and sweet potatoes, onions, cucumbers — and may be made 
of others. The growing of the various fruits is assuming large propor- 
tions in many parts of Tennessee. The elevated plateaus of the State are 
splendidly adapted to fruit culture, and on the western plateau of West 
Tennessee fruit and vegetable cultivation is becoming a large and lucra- 
tive industry among the people of many localities. Apples, peaches, pears, 
cherries, plums, damsons and strawberries among the fruits ; tomatoes, 
potatoes, melons, beans, peas, egg plant, asparagus and celery among the 
vegetables, are now shipped in abundance by Tennessee growers. It has 
been ascertained by actual experiment that small fruits and vegetables 
may be carried from Tennessee to the northern markets safely and profi- 
tably, thus competing successfully with the most eligible points in the 
United States. Nowhere do peaches and summer apples attain a more 
luscious sweetness or greater yield, while the early strawberries and toma- 
toes go to the northwestern cities on a bare market. The same may be 
said of Irish potatoes, which are grown in the western and central parts 
of the State by the hundred car loads, and supply in the month of May 
many of the large cities of the North, in whole or in part, from St. L,ouis 
to New York. 

Grapes are grown in many parts of the State with wonderful success. 
The woodland everywhere is profuse in the growth of the wild vine, thus 
indicating the capacity of the soil in this respect, while the climate is 
peculiarly adapted to bring the fruit to the highest degree of lusciousness 
and flavor. The occasional rains in summer are just enough to ripen it 
well, without inducing mildew or other fungoid diseases. In addition to 
these advantages, the fruit ripens at least four weeks earlier than it does 
in the vineyards that supply the tables of New York, Boston and Chicago, 
and for this length of time this crop may be sold at marvelous prices. 

In conclusion, here is a claim which no other of all the states can make: 
Every crop reported in the National Census is grown in Tennessee. 



TENNESSEE— FACTS FOR HOME SEEKERS. 



LIVE STOCK. 

As a stock raising country, Tennessee has no superior and but few 
equals among- the states of the American Union. In every division of the 
State there is a wonderful adaptation of the soil and climate for the pro- 
duction of live stock, and in every section rich, nutritious grasses grow 
equally as well as they do in the states north of Tennessee, and much bet- 
ter than in the southern states, while the climate of Tennessee is less 
rigorous than the northern states and less enervating than that of the 
Gulf tier. 

In the mountain fastnesses of East Tennessee are found innumerable 
fertile coves and rich pasture lands, where the grasses grow in summer 
with almost tropical luxuriance. Even blue grass, the king of all the 
grasses for pasturage, flourishes here, clothing the mountain tops with its 
dark verdure and supplying the richest and best highway pasturage to be 
found in any country. Here numerous herds of cattle and flocks of sheep 
are supplied throughout the summer months with the greatest abundance 
of food growing naturally, and as cold weather approaches they are turned 
upon pastures of rye, herd's grass and Randall grass in the coves and 
valleys, where they find an ample supply of forag-e to keep them in good 
living condition during the winter. For sheep walks, this mountainous 
region is equal to the fertile plains and rolling heights of the Spanish 
Peninsula. Here they find ample protection from the cold blasts of winter 
in the sheltering coves, and from the hot rays of a summer's sun upon the 
cool mountain tops, where the atmosphere is always tempered by eleva- 
tion. For the growing of swine, the abundant mast of the chestnut and 
mountain oak in this magnificent region is unsurpassed. 

In the delightful valley of East Tennessee stock raising has been the 
chief industry for three-quarters of a century. The records of the past 
show that this section of the State has been prolific in the production of 
mules and hogs especially, thousands of head being shipped every year. 
The improved breeds of cattle— Shorthorns, Jerseys and Devonshires — 
within the past score of years have been largely introduced and have been 
found most profitable. The luxurious pastures of this valley are well 
known to all visitors to the region, while the rich alluvial lands on the 
Watauga, the Nolichucky, the French Broad, and the Little Tennessee 
grow hay and corn in abundance, as do also Powell's Valley, and the lower 
lands lying along the Tennessee River and its tributaries, the Ocoee and 
Hiwassee. 

The Cumberland Tableland supplies a larger amount of highway pas- 
turage than any other division of the State. During the summer months, 
the top of this tableland is almost an unvarying stretch of green, the 
mountain grasses springing up under the scrubby trees and furnishing 
ample sustenance for hundreds of herds that roam at will over the broad 
surface, cropping the rich herbage and drinking from the sparkling 
fountains of freestone water that everywhere break out from the shallow 
coves. Here for seven months in the year the cost of pasturage amounts 
to absolutely nothing, and for winter forage pea vines, clover, hay and 



TENNESSEE— FACTS FOR HOME SEEKERS. 9 

rye may be easily and cheaply grown. This region is particularly well 
suited to the raising of hogs, cattle and sheep. 

The great Central Basin of Middle Tennessee is the center of the live 
stock industry of the State. Here the soils are fertile, and fields of wheat, 
barley, rye, timothy, clover, orchard grass, corn and oats are seen cover- 
ing the gently sloping hills and clothing the deep, rich valleys. Luxuriant 
meadows of blue grass are found fringing the numberless streams that 
water this region and covering the slopes that rise up from the lowlands. 
In this wonderful basin are some of the finest breeding establishments in 
the world. The most renowned runners, the fastest pacers and trotters in 
the United States— such horses, for example, as Proctor Knott and Hal 
Pointer, were bred in this basin. While the herds of Shorthorns, Jerseys 
and Holstiens to be found here stand among the best in America. It is 
a fact worthy of note and borne out by statistics that Tennessee produces 
more fine bred and high priced jacks and jennets than any other state in 
the Union, the great bulk of them being raised in this basin. 

Sheep are also largely raised in this division. All the most desirable 
breeds are found here flourishing, the Merino, the Cotswold and the South- 
down being preferred. The raising of early lambs for market has grown 
to enormous proportions in this section and pays handsomely, earl3 r lambs 
always commanding high prices. The character of the wool produced 
here is unrivaled, and the highest premium for the finest fleece ever pro- 
duced was awarded a sheep grower of this Central Basin at the World's 
Fair in London as far back as 1851. 

Every year there are big stock sales which are largely attended by 
stockmen from every portion of the United States and from Europe. As 
an illustration of what Tennessee is doing along this line it may be recited 
that at a recent sale of this kind at Tattersall's, in New York, the sale of 
fifty-three head of thoroughbred yearlings from one farm in Tennessee 
brought the enormous sum of $110,000, an average of $2,076 a head, which 
stands without rival as the best sale for that number of yearlings ever 
made in any age or in any country. The representatives of the French 
government, Baron Favoret and Capt. De La Chere, when they visited 
America for the purpose of studying the character of the horses in this 
country, reported to their government that the best specimens of the 
thoroughbred horse they found in America were in Tennessee. They also 
reported that the crop of yearlings found here, in point of size and "high 
conformation," surpassed anything they ever saw in England or France. 
So high an authority as Lord Beresford, of England, declared that he re- 
garded one stallion in Tennessee as the best race horse he ever saw, with 
an action and constitution surpassing anything in all Europe ; and Mr. 
Reynolds, of Australia, an authority than whom none stands higher, pro- 
nounced a stallion that he had seen here "the best horse in the world." 
So much for our horses. 

There are also similar miraculous sales of improved breeds of cattle, 
and mules of the highest order are produced from high bred mares and 
imported jacks in every part of this basin, but especially in the counties 
of Wilson, Sumner, Davidson, Maury, Williamson and Bedford, from 



10 TENNESSEE— FACTS FOR HOME SEEKERS. 

where thousands of head are annually shipped to the cotton and sugar 
growing region. 

West Tennessee, with the exception of a few of the northern counties, 
has given but little attention to the raising of any stock except cattle and 
hogs. Nevertheless, there are many soils in West Tennessee peculiarly 
adapted to the growth of the grasses. Orchard grass, and herd's grass 
grow in unrivaled exuberance in all the northern counties of that division, 
and in many of the southern counties where a clayey soil prevails. Ber- 
muda grass grows with great luxuriance in the southern counties of that 
division, and timothy, also, on the rich uplands, makes a very heavy yield. 
All this goes to show that if this division of the State does not go so 
largely into the breeding of stock as the other divisions, it is not for the 
want of suitable soils for the production of forage and grain crops, or for 
want of highway pasturage. 

POULTRY RAISING. 

Until within the past few years but little attention was given to poul- 
try raising in Tennessee, but our people are more and more engaging in 
it, until it has become with them an enormous source of revenue, bringing 
hundreds of thousands of dollars annually into the state. Owing to our 
matchless climate with its short, mild winters every fowl grown for 
market in the United States thrives and increases here splendidly, while 
the egg shipments for the past ten years have been something wonderful. 

GAME AND FISH. 

For those who are fond of sport we have plenty of deer, bear, turkej r s, 
pheasants, quails, etc., in our mountains ; while our streams are well 
stocked with all kinds of fresh water fish, and especially game fish, such 
as black bass and the speckled mountain trout. 

AS TO HOMES. 

Tennessee could furnish good homes to 10,000,000 people, and give to 
each head of a family a comfortable farm. In any portion of the State 
land can be purchased at a very low figure, ranging from $1 to $100 per 
acre in price, depending, of course, upon its location as to cities and rail- 
roads. Good land can be bought here for $15 or $20 an acre, and land as 
fine as any farmer can well imagine, and in a high state of cultivation, 
may be had for $30 per acre, and in many sections of the state for a much 
less price. Any one desiring a good home who will write the Commis- 
sioner of Agriculture will receive a prompt reply, and all will be done that 
can be to secure suitable locations for home seekers. 



